U.S. patent application number 15/435992 was filed with the patent office on 2018-08-23 for computing device with touchscreen interface for note entry.
The applicant listed for this patent is International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to DENISE A. BELL, KARTHIK PALLAPOTHU, MINH Q. PHAM, RONALD J. THERIAULT.
Application Number | 20180240446 15/435992 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 63167906 |
Filed Date | 2018-08-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180240446 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BELL; DENISE A. ; et
al. |
August 23, 2018 |
COMPUTING DEVICE WITH TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE FOR NOTE ENTRY
Abstract
A computing device is provided. The computing device includes a
touchscreen, a speaker configured to output sounds corresponding to
the musical notes and a processor. The processor defines an area of
the touchscreen as a note timing entry region and a remainder of
the touchscreen as an interface region. The processor also records
a timing of user taps in the note timing entry region and controls
the speaker to output the sounds corresponding to the musical notes
in the sequence in accordance with the timing of the user taps.
Inventors: |
BELL; DENISE A.; (AUSTIN,
TX) ; PALLAPOTHU; KARTHIK; (Evanston, IL) ;
PHAM; MINH Q.; (Austin, TX) ; THERIAULT; RONALD
J.; (AUSTIN, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
International Business Machines Corporation |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
63167906 |
Appl. No.: |
15/435992 |
Filed: |
February 17, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2203/04105
20130101; G10H 1/0008 20130101; G10H 2220/096 20130101; G06F
3/04883 20130101; G10H 1/40 20130101; G10H 2220/126 20130101; G06F
3/041 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G10H 1/00 20060101
G10H001/00; G06F 3/0488 20060101 G06F003/0488; G06F 3/041 20060101
G06F003/041 |
Claims
1. A computing device, comprising: a touchscreen; a speaker
configured to output sounds corresponding to musical notes; and a
processor to define an area of the touchscreen as a note timing
entry region and a remainder of the touchscreen as an interface
region, wherein the computing device further comprises: a housing
supportive of the touchscreen, the speaker and the processor and
which is configured as a portable laptop computer; and a trackpad
supported on the housing with a surface remote from the touchscreen
and having first and second areas respectively corresponding to the
note timing entry region and the interface region, and wherein the
processor is configured to record a timing of user taps in the note
timing entry region of the touchscreen and the first area of the
surface of the trackpad and to control the speaker to output the
sounds corresponding to the musical notes in a sequence in
accordance with the timing of the user taps.
2. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the
outputting of the sounds is substantially coincident with the user
taps.
3. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor
records durations of each of the user taps in the note timing entry
region and controls the speaker to output the sounds for respective
durations in accordance with the recorded durations.
4. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor
records pressures of each of the user taps in the note timing entry
region and controls the speaker to output the sounds at respective
volumes in accordance with the pressures.
5. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor
displays recommendations for durations of the user taps and records
and displays deviations between the recommendations and the
durations of the user taps.
6. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor
displays recommendations for pressures of the user taps and records
and displays deviations between the recommendations and the
pressures of the user taps.
7. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor
displays recommendations for scale locations of the user taps and
records and displays deviations between the recommendations and the
scale locations of the user taps.
8. (canceled)
9. A computing device, comprising: a touchscreen; a memory unit
having executable instructions and a sequence of musical notes
stored thereon; a speaker configured to output sounds corresponding
to the musical notes; and a processor which is operative when the
executable instructions are executed to define an area of the
touchscreen as a note timing entry region and a remainder of the
touchscreen as an interface region, wherein the computing device
further comprises: a housing supportive of the touchscreen, the
speaker and the processor and which is configured as a portable
laptop computer; and a trackpad supported on the housing with a
surface remote from the touchscreen and having first and second
areas respectively corresponding to the note timing entry region
and the interface region, and wherein the processor is configured
to record a timing of user taps in the note timing entry region of
the touchscreen and the first area of the surface of the trackpad
and to control the speaker to output the sounds corresponding to
the musical notes in the sequence in accordance with the timing of
the user taps.
10. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
outputting of the sounds is substantially coincident with the user
taps.
11. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
processor is further operative to record durations of each of the
user taps in the note timing entry region and to control the
speaker to output the sounds for respective durations in accordance
with the recorded durations.
12. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
processor is further operative to record pressures of each of the
user taps in the note timing entry region and to control the
speaker to output the sounds at respective volumes in accordance
with the pressures.
13. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
processor is further configured to: display recommendations for
durations of the user taps, and record and display deviations
between the recommendations and the durations of the user taps.
14. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
processor is further configured to: display recommendations for
pressures of the user taps, and record and display deviations
between the recommendations and the pressures of the user taps.
15. The computing device according to claim 9, wherein the
processor is further configured to: display recommendations for
scale locations of the user taps, and record and display deviations
between the recommendations and the scale locations of the user
taps.
16. (canceled)
17. A method of operating a computing device, the computing device
comprising a touchscreen, a speaker, a memory unit having
executable instructions and a sequence of musical notes stored
thereon, a processor, a trackpad with a surface remote from the
touchscreen and having first and second areas and a housing
supportive of the touchscreen, the speaker, the memory unit, the
processor and the trackpad, the executable instructions being
executable by the processor such that the processor executes the
method of operating the computing device, the method comprising:
defining an area of the touchscreen as a note timing entry region
such that the note timing entry region corresponds to the first
area of the trackpad; defining a remainder of the touchscreen as an
interface region such that the interface region corresponds to the
second area of the trackpad; recording a timing of user taps in the
note timing entry region of the touchscreen and the first area of
the trackpad; and controlling the speaker to output sounds
corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in accordance
with the timing of the user taps.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the controlling
comprises outputting the sounds substantially coincident with the
user taps.
19. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: recording
durations of each of the user taps in the note timing entry region;
and controlling the speaker to output the sounds for respective
durations in accordance with the recorded durations.
20. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: recording
pressures of each of the user taps in the note timing entry region;
and controlling the speaker to output the sounds at respective
volumes in accordance with the pressures.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates to computing devices and, more
particularly, to computing devices with touchscreen interfaces by
which musical notes can be entered.
[0002] A touchscreen is an important input and output tool of a
computing device and is normally layered on the top of an
electronic visual display of an information processing system. A
user can give input or control the information processing system
through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with
a special stylus and/or one or more fingers. Some touchscreens are
operated using ordinary or specially coated gloves while others
require the use of a special stylus/pen only. In any case, the user
can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and to
control how it is displayed. For example, the user can do a reverse
pinch to zoom into graphics to increase text sizes.
[0003] A touchpad, trackpad or mousepad is a pointing device
featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can
translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative
position on the operating system that is outputted to the screen.
Touchpads are a common feature of laptop computers, and are also
used as a substitute for a mouse where desk space is scarce.
Because they vary in size, they can also be found on personal
digital assistants (PDAs) and some portable media players. Wireless
touchpads are also available as detached accessories.
[0004] For a user who wishes to enter musical notes into or to
manipulate musical notes already stored in a memory unit of a
computing device, such actions commonly involve the use of a
keyboard or some other traditional musical device. The device may
be simulated on a touch screen or not. In either case, a good deal
of skill is required in order to hit the correct notes in the
correct order and with the correct timing.
SUMMARY
[0005] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a
computing device is provided. The computing device includes a
touchscreen, a speaker or other audio transducer configured to
output sounds corresponding to the musical notes and a processor.
The processor defines an area of the touchscreen as a note timing
entry region and a remainder of the touchscreen as an interface
region. The processor also records a timing of user taps in the
note timing entry region and controls the speaker to output the
sounds corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in
accordance with the timing of the user taps.
[0006] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a
computing device is provided. The computing device includes a
touchscreen, a memory unit having executable instructions and a
sequence of musical notes stored thereon, a speaker configured to
output sounds corresponding to the musical notes and a processor.
The processor is operative when the executable instructions are
executed to define an area of the touchscreen as a note timing
entry region and a remainder of the touchscreen as an interface
region, to record a timing of user taps in the note timing entry
region and to control the speaker to output the sounds
corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in accordance
with the timing of the user taps.
[0007] According to yet another embodiment of the present
invention, a method of operating a computing device is provided.
The computing device includes a touchscreen, a speaker and a memory
unit having a sequence of musical notes stored thereon. The method
includes defining an area of the touchscreen as a note timing entry
region, defining a remainder of the touchscreen as an interface
region, recording a timing of user taps in the note timing entry
region and controlling the speaker to output the sounds
corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in accordance
with the timing of the user taps.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at
the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other
features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a computing device provided
as a laptop in accordance with embodiments;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of components of the
computing device of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary graphical user
interface for supporting the creating of musical passages in
accordance with embodiments;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a graphical representation of user taps and
outputted sounds in accordance with embodiments;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of user taps and
outputted sounds in accordance with embodiments;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a graphical representation of user taps and
outputted sounds in accordance with embodiments; and
[0015] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of operating
a computing device comprising a touchscreen, a speaker and a memory
unit having a sequence of musical notes stored thereon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] As will be described below, the creation of musical passages
is simplified by providing for a separation between the entering of
note data and the entering of note timing data to thereby allowing
unskilled people to create sophisticated musical passages. In
addition, the present disclosure provides for customization of the
rhythmic nature of a sequence of notes and may be used in the live
presentation or playing of a sequence of notes. An unskilled user
can also use the features described herein to experiment with the
rhythm of a note sequence recreationally, possibly engendering a
greater interest in music.
[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a computing device 10 is
provided. The computing device 10 includes a touchscreen 11, a
memory unit 12, a speaker 13 and a processor 14. The memory unit 12
may include a read-only memory (ROM) section 121 having executable
instructions stored thereon, and a ROM or random access memory
(RAM) section 122 having one or more sequences of musical notes
stored thereon. For purposes of clarity and brevity, the following
disclosure will relate to the case in which the ROM or RAM section
122 is provided as a RAM section 122 and has a sequence of musical
notes stored thereon. The speaker 13 is configured to output sounds
corresponding to the musical notes.
[0018] The computing device 10 further includes a power source 15,
which may be provided as a rechargeable battery or as an external
power source, a networking unit 16 by which the computing device 10
is communicative with other computing devices and a housing 17. The
housing 17 is configured to support the touchscreen 11 and to house
the memory unit 12, the speaker 13, the processor 14, the power
source 15 and the networking unit 16. The computing device 10 may
further include an input element, such as a keyboard that could be
provided as hardware supported on the housing 17 or as a graphical
element displayed in the touchscreen 11 or a trackpad 18 that could
be supported on the housing 17.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the computing device 10 may be provided
as desktop computing device or as a portable computing device. In
the latter case, the computing device 10 may be a laptop, a tablet
or a smartphone, for example. For purposes of clarity and brevity,
the following description will relate to the case in which the
computing device 10 is provided as a portable laptop with the
touchscreen 11 and the trackpad 18.
[0020] The processor 14 may be provided as a central processing
unit (CPU), for example, and is operative when the executable
instructions of the ROM section 121 are executed to perform certain
actions. These include, but are not limited to, displaying an
application specific, graphical user interface (GUI) 19 on the
touchscreen 11 whereby a user can input commands and receive an
output via the touchscreen 11. The GUI 19 will be described in
greater detail below. The actions of the processor 14 further
include defining a first area of the touchscreen 11 as a note
timing entry region 110 (see FIG. 3) and a second area or a
remainder of the touchscreen 11 as an interface region 111 (see
FIG. 3), recording a timing of user taps in the note timing entry
region 110 and controlling the speaker 13 to output the sounds
corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in accordance
with the timing of the user taps.
[0021] The touchscreen 11 may be any type of touchscreen,
including, but not limited to, a resistive type, a surface acoustic
wave type, a capacitive type, an infrared (IR) grid type, an IR
acrylic projection type, an optical imaging type, a dispersive
signal technology type, an acoustic pulse recognition type, any
other type of combinations thereof. In any case, the touchscreen 11
can be controlled by the processor 14 to display the GUI 19 and may
be interacted with by touch by a user. Such interactions can be
single-finger or multiple-finger interactions, for example. In both
the single-finger and multiple-finger interactions, the touchscreen
11 is configured to sense a location of each individual one of the
interactions, a duration of each individual one of the interactions
and, in some cases, a pressure of each individual one of the
interactions.
[0022] In accordance with embodiments and with reference to FIG. 3,
the GUI 19 includes the note timing entry region 110 and a
perimeter surrounding the note timing entry region 110 that serves
as the interface region 111. Within the interface region 111, the
three buttons at the top allow for reading, saving and playing of
encoded or non-encoded musical or sound files and the row beginning
with the "Note" identifier is used to inform the user of which note
in a music or sound file will be played when a tap in the note
timing entry region 110 is next tapped. The "Start" button can be
configured such that when it is pressed or clicked, the note timing
entry region 110 turns color or is highlighted to indicate that
editing is in progress. The "Start" button turns red at this point
and becomes a "Stop" button. Each tap in the note timing entry
region 110 will be associated with the playing of a note from a
recorded note sequence until either all notes are played or the
"Stop" button is pressed. The note timing entry region 110 is
provided as the large area in the center of the GUI 19 and is the
region where a user taps to specify note timing, spacing and
optionally duration and volume and pitch. That is, during the
executions of the executable instructions by the processor 14, the
user may tap his finger(s) in the note timing entry region 110 of
the touchscreen 11 so as to input note timing commands into the GUI
19.
[0023] The trackpad 18 may be supportively disposed on the housing
17 and acts as a pointing device. In accordance with embodiments,
the trackpad 18 includes a tactile sensor provided as a specialized
surface that can be associated with the touchscreen 11 in terms of
position and size and can sense touch by and motion of a user's
finger(s). The processor 14 is configured to cause touchscreen 11
to display a cursor that is positioned according to the locations
of the user's finger(s) on the trackpad 18 and which is movable
according to the movement of the user's finger(s) on the trackpad
18.
[0024] Thus, during the executions of the executable instructions,
the note timing entry region 110 and the interface region 111 of
the touchscreen 11 may be associated with corresponding first and
second regions of the trackpad 181 and 182 (see FIG. 1),
respectively. As such, during the executions of the executable
instructions by the processor 14, the user may tap his finger(s) in
the first region 181 of the trackpad 18 that is associated with the
note timing entry region 110 of the touchscreen 11 so as to input
note timing commands into the GUI 19.
[0025] With reference to FIG. 4, the processor 14 may control the
speaker to output the sounds of the notes each user tap is
associated with such that the timing of the sound output is
substantially coincident with the user taps. That is, the timing of
the user taps is illustrated as a first series of tap dots 401,
which is plotted along a timing axis, and the timing of the
outputted sounds is illustrated as a second series of sound dots
402, which is similarly plotted along the timing axis. As shown in
FIG. 4, the timing of the tap dots 401 and the timing of the sound
dots 402 is substantially similar and indicates that the sounds of
the notes are output almost at a same time as the user taps. Of
course, it is to be understood that the timing of the user taps can
be recorded for playback at a later time as well.
[0026] With reference to FIG. 5, the processor 14 may control the
speaker to output the sounds of the notes each user tap is
associated with such that the duration of the sound output is
defined in accordance with the durations of each of the user taps.
That is, the duration of each of the user taps is illustrated in
the series of tap dots 501, which are plotted along a timing axis.
By recording such durations, the processor 14 can control the
speaker 13 to output the sounds with substantially similar or equal
durations.
[0027] With reference to FIG. 6, the processor 14 may control the
speaker to output the sounds of the notes each user tap is
associated with such that the volume of the sound output is defined
in accordance with the pressure applied by the user to the
touchscreen 11 or the trackpad 18 at each of the user taps. That
is, the pressure of each of the user taps is illustrated in the
series of tap dots 601, which are plotted along a timing axis and
along a pressure axis. By recording such pressures, the processor
14 can control the speaker 13 to output the sounds with
substantially corresponding volumes.
[0028] In accordance with embodiments and with reference back to
FIG. 3, the processor 14 may be further configured to display
recommendations for the timing of the user taps so that the
resulting timing for the playing of the sequence of notes is
accurate to achieve a desired sonic effect. Such recommendations
may, for example, take the form of a scrolling sequence of dots 301
that eventually pass by a notch 302 in the timing axis. The moment
when each dot 301 passes by the notch 302 is representative of when
the note timing entry region 110 of the touchscreen 11 should be
tapped by the user for the associated note. Moreover, the processor
14 may record and display deviations between the recommendations
for the timing of the user taps and the actual timing of the user
taps, which can be represented as tap dots 303, so that the user
can observe his progress and accuracy.
[0029] In accordance with further embodiments, the processor may be
further configured to display additional or alternative
recommendations for one or more of the duration, pressure and scale
location (i.e., scale location relative to a baseline) of the user
taps. Such additional or alternative recommendations would be
associated with one or more of the duration, volume and pitch of
the sounds that should be output by the speaker in order to achieve
the desired sonic effect and can be provided as graphical
information along with the dots 301. As above, the processor 14 may
record and display deviations between the additional or alternative
recommendations and one or more of the duration, pressure and scale
location of the user taps in the tap dots 303 so that the user can
observe his progress and accuracy.
[0030] With reference to FIG. 7, a method of operating a computing
device 10 as described above is provided. The computing device 10
includes at least the touchscreen 11, the memory unit 12 and the
speaker 13 with a sequence of musical notes stored in the memory
unit 12. The method includes defining an area of the touchscreen 11
as the note timing entry region 110 (block 701), defining a
remainder of the touchscreen 11 as an interface region 111 (block
702), recording a timing of user taps in the note timing entry
region 110 (block 703) and controlling the speaker 13 to output the
sounds corresponding to the musical notes in the sequence in
accordance with the timing of the user taps (block 704). In
accordance with embodiments, as mentioned above, the controlling of
block 704 may include outputting the sounds with a timing such that
the sounds are substantially coincident with the user taps (at
least to the extent that the computing device 10 as a whole is
capable of executing sound output in real- or nearly
real-time).
[0031] The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present
invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are
not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments
disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to
those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope
and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used
herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the
embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement
over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of
ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed
herein.
[0032] The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a
computer program product. The computer program product may include
a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer
readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to
carry out aspects of the present invention.
[0033] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible
device that can retain and store instructions for use by an
instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium
may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage
device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an
electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of
more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium
includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static
random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a
floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or
raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon,
and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable
storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being
transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely
propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves
propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,
light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical
signals transmitted through a wire.
[0034] Computer readable program instructions described herein can
be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a
computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or
external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a
local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network.
The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical
transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,
switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter
card or network interface in each computing/processing device
receives computer readable program instructions from the network
and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage
in a computer readable storage medium within the respective
computing/processing device.
[0035] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out
operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions,
instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine
instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware
instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object
code written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such
as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural
programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The computer readable program
instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on
the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on
the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on
the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry
including, for example, programmable logic circuitry,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays
(PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by
utilizing state information of the computer readable program
instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to
perform aspects of the present invention.
[0036] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable
program instructions.
[0037] These computer readable program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in
a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable
storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an
article of manufacture including instructions which implement
aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block
diagram block or blocks.
[0038] The computer readable program instructions may also be
loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing
apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps
to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or
other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that
the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable
apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0039] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent
a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one
or more executable instructions for implementing the specified
logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the
functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in
the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations
of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
* * * * *